The five most-read stories on Scope this week were:
The placenta sacrifices itself to keep baby healthy in case of starvation, research shows: A study (subscription required) involving mice suggests the placenta is intrinsically linked to the fetal hypothalamus and capable of changing its form in order to fit the growing baby's needs.
TEDMED conference streaming live to Stanford: TEDMED, the conference exploring innovation in health and medicine, will stream live to the School of Medicine from April 11 to 13. A video feed of the conference will be available each day at the Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge.
The Supreme Court on health reform: Summing up: Stanford Law School Professor Hank Greely, JD, summarizes his three-day analysis of the Supreme Court health-care reform hearings.
Can yoga help women suffering from fibromyalgia?: A study recently published in the Journal of Pain Research shows that practicing yoga boosts levels of the stress hormone cortisol and could help ease some symptoms of fibromyalgia such as pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness and depression.
Lessons from a reservation: South Dakota trip sheds light on a life in rural medicine: Bonnie Chien, a first-year medical student, recently visited the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota as part of her Rural and American Indian Health Disparities class. In this post, she discusses what she learned about socioeconomic determinants of health through visits with various Indian Health Centers, community members and tribal educational institutions.
